Rosemary’s Baby

NBC’s remake of Roman Polanski’s “Rosemary’s Baby” feels more like a cheesy Lifetime movie of the week with an inflated budget than it does a serious horror film.

Remakes aren’t anything new, and they for sure aren’t going to end anytime soon. But they don’t have to be as evil as so many make them out to be. While some films should never be remade, it’s a chance to bring other classics to a new generation. The problem is that so many merely go through the motions in order to capitalize off a name and, in the end, end up boring instead of entertaining. “Rosemary’s Baby” is no different.

NBC had the somewhat inspired idea to remake “Rosemary’s Baby” in a different medium, and spread the story out into a three hour miniseries — an idea that seemed to pay off during the first half of the event. The audience is introduced to Rosemary (Zoe Saldana) and Guy Woodhouse (Patrick J. Adams), a lovely young couple moving to France for a year in the wake of the loss of their first child. It’s here that the filmmakers perfectly set up Rosemary’s vulnerability that makes her susceptible to suggestion. That’s why when she begins to fall under the spell of Margaux and Roman Castevet (Carole Bouquet and Jason Isaacs) you can understand, but one’s belief can only be suspended for so long. After a while, you start to become annoyed with Rosemary and her trust in these weird, complete strangers, and you quickly become disengaged with the story.

The other disappointing element of the film is the acting. Everyone feels so cheesy and over the top that it’s hard to take any of them seriously. And that’s a complete and utter shame, because this project boasts big names who generally deliver. Saldana comes off too naive, bordering on stupid. Bouquet appears to believe she’s in a daytime soap opera, and while Isaacs carries himself well enough, it’s never enough to make you fear him like you should.

This remake is completely uninspired, lazy and downright dull, so if you missed the television event during its premiere, count yourself lucky and make sure to pass on the Blu-ray release, whose special features boast only two featurettes as hollow as the film itself.